Sunday, February 7, 2010

Saugus H.S. Football Clinic


Because I left for my coaching duties in Sicily in January the last two years, I have not been able to attend football coaching clinics for quite some time.

Usually I attended about five clinics each year to learn more about the current trends in both strategy and techniques. Fortunately, Laurie was very supportive of my career and encouraged me on my travels all over the country. Maybe she just wanted me out of the house for a few days . . .

We used to spend a week visiting Spring Practices at colleges. We had great experiences at Delaware, Georgia, Florida State, Oregon State, North Carolina and Maryland.

Saturday it was time to attend the 6th Annual Saugus H.S. Football Coaches Clinic. This clinic lasts only one day but is intense as their are eight speakers making presentations at the same time in different classrooms. Each presentation lasted 65 minutes and there would be eight sessions throughout the day that started at 8:00 a.m. and would not finish until 6:30 p.m.

The Saugus Centurion

Rio Mesa has a similar Spartan statue on their Quad. I think our Spartan can take their Centurion!

This must be the way!

Only one disappointment when I finally arrived at check-in -- NO COFFEE AND DOUGHNUTS!

Now free coffee and doughnuts upon registering have been a staple of every clinic I've ever attended until yesterday! I'm out of the loop for two years and this tragedy hits . . .

Fortunately, I'm resilient,

Clay Richardson
California Lutheran University
Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach

Clay was our QB on the Thousand Oaks H.S. JV team in 1970, my first year in coaching.

I attended Clay's Session 1 talk entitled:
"Implementing the Wildcat Package Into Any Offense"

Session 2 it was Johnnie Williams of Occidental College talking about:
"Defensive Line Pass Rush Fundamentals for the 3-4/4-3 Scheme"

The 3rd Session took me to hear Mission Viejo H.S.'s Bret Paton on:
"4-3 to 3-4 and back: Making it Easy to Use Multiple Fronts"

Session 4 took me to an offensive talk by Patrick Toney of Palomar College:
"Wide Receiver Catching and Route Running Fundamentals Sure to Improve Any Wide Receiver"

After a lunch break, it was on to Session 5 to hear Steve Bogan of South Hills H.S. on:
What it Takes to be a Winner: Lessons on Developing a Program"
It should be noted that Steve mentioned Jason Johnson's Grandpa, Frosty Westering, several times during his presentation.

Session 6, it was back to hear Bret Paton of Mission Viejo H.S. a second time on:
"Pursuit, Tackling, and Turnovers: Doing it the Diablo Way"

For the last two Sessions of the day I opted to hear the "Pride of Bari, Italy" . . .

Rocco Cordola
College of the Canyons
Defensive Line Coach

Rocco's EXCELLENT presentations were the highlight of the day for me. Great detail and lots of good drills and progressions. By the end of the day, there were only four of us coaches left in the room to hear Coach Rocco talk. I may be old but I still have stamina. His talks were on:
"Defensive Line vs. the Run and Pass: Emphasis on Defeating any Scheme and Technique"

Over the last four or five years I have heard several different College of the Canyons coaches speak at clinics on a variety of topics. They have all come across like Rocco Cordola did yesterday, organized, thorough, passionate and professional. Funny how Canyons is one of the top Junior College programs in the country year in and year out.

IT IS FINALLY
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!
SUPER BOWL MONDAY IN EUROPE

Scott Fujita
New Orleans Saints
#55, Outside Linebacker

One last Super Bowl pre-game Scott story for you before kickoff courtesy of Rhiannon Potkey of the Ventura County Star can be found by clicking on:


Catania Elephants' Coach Matteo Belfiore and TE Peppe Strano are both in Miami to take in all of the pageantry of the Super Bowl along with Peppe's Dad, Nino.

WHO DAT?

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